iCan't Believe It
by like-lions
Summary: My name is Freddie Benson, and I'm twenty two years old. And one little girl is going to turn my life upside down.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Okay, so this is just the product of sudden, unexpected muse. I got an idea, and I thought I needed to put it out there before I lost the thought. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. Initially, I was going to make it a two-shot, but I have some ideas that could make this a multi-chaptered story. So, you tell me? It's summer, obviously, so I have quite a lot of time. And I'm only planning on updating a couple of my other stories, so I probably won't be overwhelmed. So, yeah, you tell me, okay? 3 Kaylah

**iCan't Believe It – Chapter One**

My name is Freddie Bensen, and I'm twenty two years old. A lot has changed for me over the course of these past few years. Five, to be exact, but who's counting? When high school ended, my best, or can I say, only friends each went their separate ways, off to college, or to whatever they had chosen to do. I went off to Stanford, full scholarship. We promised to keep in touch, but things come up, you forget, and sooner or later you realize you've broken your promise. Have I wondered about what's come of them? Sure. Have I done anything to find out? Well, not exactly. Once I graduated college, I moved back to Seattle to be with my mom, and when I came to the hallway once shared by Carly, Spencer and I? Emptiness. It was virtually abandoned, no surprise, actually. My mother rarely left the house, too worried about leaving home alone, and apparently, once Carly moved away, so did Spencer. I didn't even bother checking on Sam. I figured she was probably long gone by now, doing god knows what. So I moved in with my mother. A Stanford grad, I could probably rent my own place, back in California with the money I earned on the side during school, but no. I stayed with my mom. So, that's all I've really done. Nothing, except for take care of my mother and waste my brain cells. I wasn't living with her the entire time though. When she fell down the stairs a year ago, she stayed at the hospital for quite a while. Was I happy with this? Well, I can't say I wasn't. It was nice to get away for a while.

This morning, when I went downstairs to get the mail, much to the dismay of my mother, who insisted that she come with me, I found a note, no envelope or anything, just tucked into my mailbox vents. I thought it was just solicitors, trying to sell me a new body wash that would give me a rash, but once I read it, I was taken aback.

_Please Read This:_

_My name is Sam Puckett, and I'm in need of any information you can give me. Before you stop reading, here is my story:_

_Just about a year ago, maybe the third week in January, I went to the Shallow End Bar with some friends. I met a guy there, and came back to his apartment in this building. Nine months later, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter, Juliette. For my daughter's sake and future, I need to learn the identity of this man, or at least learn his name. This building is the only connection I have to him. It was a drunken night, so I can't give you a perfect description, but he was white, average height with brown hair. It's vague, I know, but it's all I have. If any of you know a man of this description who lived or is living in this building, please contact me at the information below. I would appreciate any information, no matter how useless or dead-end it might be. My daughter deserves to know who her father is. It breaks my heart to think about the future pain I might have caused her. She deserves better. Please call my number, it will be 100% anonymous if you wish._

_-- Sam Puckett (206-806-1992)_

I looked around and saw that the letter was stuffed into every mailbox downstairs. I couldn't help but become nervous. I remembered the bar name, I matched the description, I live here. It was clear that she was talking about me, just not knowing it. I thought back, to a year ago, and it all became clear. That little girl was my daughter, and her mom was Sam. Part of me was happy I found her, happy I had a daughter. The other part of me was freaking out that I didn't have a clue what I was going to do about it. I looked down at the number, and then down at my cell phone. Okay, so maybe I did know what to do.

_**A/N: So, two shot? Or do you want multiple chapters? Review and tell me!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Okay, so I'm gonna make this a multi-chapter story, since the majority of you wanted it to be that way. Sorry if these chapters aren't that long, I get vicious writer's block. But, I'm going to try and update often, so perhaps that will make up for it?**_

**iCan't Believe It – Chapter Two**

Samantha Puckett paced around her small apartment, desperately trying to find Juliette's pacifier. She had a tendency to throw it into a small space where Sam could barely reach, or even find, for that matter. The screeching cries coming from Juliette's nursery screamed bloody murder, but that was just Jules for you; always craving attention. Sam sighed a short breath of relief when she found it lying beside the refrigerator. She quickly ran some hot water and ran it underneath, knowing it wasn't the right way to sterilize a baby's pacifier, but barely caring. Once she stuck the partially cleaned pacifier into Jules' mouth, there was finally enough silence for Sam to hear her cell phone ringing in her bedroom.

"Hello?" Sam said, trying to catch her breath. She had spent the majority of the morning racing around her apartment trying to get Juliette what she wanted. Even though the apartment was small, it seemed plenty big when you're running back and forth, from room to room.

"Hi," the voice on the other line said, "Is this Sam Puckett?" The voice sounded like a man, probably in his twenties, and Sam immediately perked up, hoping, pleading that this would be just the man she was looking for.

"Yes, this is," Sam said, trying not to show her excitement and scare him off, "Who wants to know?"

"Well, I saw your flyer in my mailbox this morning and I thought I'd call," Sam felt a flutter in her stomach, her plans had actually worked, and just a day after she put them in the mailboxes, too! "Sam, it's Freddie." And then the flutter went away.

"God, Benson, get my hopes up, much?" Sam said, dropping the sweet, motherly act she was attempting (and failing) to put on, "And are you seriously still living at Bushwell with your Mom? I thought you went off to college or something."

Freddie laughed silently to himself on the other side of the line. This was the Sam that he remembered from high school. "No, seriously, I saw your flyer in my mailbox—"

"Your mom's mailbox, you mean?" Sam said back.

"Look, whatever. I saw your letter, and I think I know who Juliette's dad is," Freddie said. A knot caught in Sam's throat. Maybe she should have been a bit nicer to him. If the times hadn't changed too much, he was probably going to make her pay for her comment.

"You think you know?" Sam said, her voice dropping an octave, "Are you going to tell me, or are you going to make me fight you for it?"

"Look, Sam, we're adults now. I'm not going to force you into doing something weird just so that you can find out who your daughter's dad is. This is serious." Sam breathed a small sigh of relief.

_Thank god_, Sam thought to herself.

"This is gonna sound crazy," Freddie said, his voice getting jittery for the first time since he picked up the phone, "But, I remember that night, and I remember spending it with someone. And I think that someone might have been you."

Wham. It hit her like a ton of bricks. There was silence, and then there came a wave of questions. All of which he answered correctly. His story matched up; their stories matched up.

"Wow, this is more awkward than I thought it would be," Sam said, clearly flustered and walking towards Juliette's room, where the little brunette girl was drifting to sleep.

"Yeah, it kind of is," Freddie said, nervously, "Well...Can I meet her?" Another knot jammed into Sam's throat. She hadn't really thought about that, or at least not that deeply. He was her father, he deserved to be in her life. Sam bit her bottom lip, and sighed, holding the phone away from her mouth.

"Okay," Sam said, "I live at 1346 Westfield Street. Apartment 2B. You can come over tommorow at 2 o' clock. Don't be late." This was weird. It was going too fast. She hadn't planned on having this whole conversation in ten minutes or less.

"Don't worry," Freddie said, a grin growing on his face, "I won't be."

And with that they both hung up. Sam looked down at her little girl, with short brown hair and big blue eyes, and she smiled. She was a little bit of both of them; their best features all smashed into one little person. Freddie Benson walked over to the mirror and looked into it. He couldn't even fathom what his daughter would look like. Would she look like Sam? Would she look like him? Or would she look like a little bit of both? All he knew was that he couldn't wait to find out.

_**A/N: Ahhh, shortness. I tried not to rush it, but the awkwardness was killing me. Review for the next chapter?**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Okay, so I updated a little early, because I was excited about this story. Haha. Again, this chapter will be a little short, but I plan on updating as often as possible to ensure that you guys get your fill of this story.**_

**iCan't Believe It – Chapter Three**

Freddie paced around his apartment, trying to decide what to wear to meet Juliette for the first time. Do babies notice or even remember first impressions? Freddie didn't want to take any chances. Explaining to his mother where he was going and why was hard. Way too complicated for one day. He decided to just tell her that he was going to meet old friends, and when she asked who, he ignored her and pretended not to hear. Casual or semi-casual, semi-formal was the question, but he just went with casual. Babies didn't tend to notice the difference between nice and crappy clothes anyway. He looked at the clock. One thirty in the afternoon. He did a map search and determined that it would take twenty minutes to get to Sam's apartment, and he gave himself a few buffer minutes, to get dressed and to calm himself down. Once he found a decent pair of jeans and a button down shirt, he headed out the parking lot, hopped in his car and headed off. He got to the building at one fifty five, with five minutes to spare and examine the place.

It wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. Sam must have been doing something for herself, since this seemed like a pretty nice place to live, at least for living in the city in Seattle. The tinted brick added a cool effect to the building, even though he was sure that the brick wasn't what Sam was probably looking for in terms of an ideal home. She always hated brick, unless she was throwing it at someone. Freddie looked at his watch again, one fifty eight. He walked into the building, and looked at the various doorbells. 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 2A and 2B. The nametag aside the apartment read "Puckett", and he pressed the bell exactly at two o'clock. He always did like to have things happen on time, all the time. His thoughts were interrupted by a voice through the intercom that said, "Who is it?"

"It's Freddie, what are you expecting someone else?" Freddie said.

"Haha, very funny. Come in, the doors open," Sam said, pressing the button for the door to unlock. He walked up the stairs to the second floor and glanced over at apartment 2A. It had a gaudy bunch of flowers arranged in the shape of a heart, and it was plenty off putting.

"Ugly, isn't it?" Sam said, surprising Freddie, who didn't think her hospitality would extend more than just buzzing him in. He looked over at her and was taken aback. She hadn't changed much from high school, but for some reason, she looked all the more beautiful.

"Do you want to come inside, or do you want to stare at me for a while longer?" Sam said, sarcastically, walking into her home. Freddie followed close behind.

"Sorry the place isn't clean, I didn't care enough to pick anything up," Sam said. The place wasn't too messy, or at least not for Sam. There were clothes spewed everywhere and empty baby formula containers on the countertops, but aside from that it was pretty well put together.

"No problem," Freddie said, still looking around.

"She's in the other room, if you wanna go she her now," Sam said, walking down the short hallway and pointing towards a closed door with a pink 'J' on the front, "She's a light sleeper. This is the only way she'll actually stay asleep. The second she opened the door, a small squeak came from the white barred crib on the opposite side of the room, near the window.

"Told you," Sam said. Freddie never thought of Sam as the type to buy this kind of frilly, girly stuff. But clearly she made an exception when it came to her daughter; their daughter. Freddie walked over to the crib, nervous to look inside. Suddenly, a little hand came popping out of the side of the crib, begging to be held. He looked inside and saw her for the first time, smiling despite his attempts not to and to stay cool. He short, wispy brown hair was messy from being slept on, but her big blue eyes, pudgy little checks and big, toothless (but adorable), smile made up for it.

"You can pick her up if you want," Sam said, pushing him playfully more towards the crib, "She's not that fragile anymore."

Freddie reached into the crib and picked her up, his heart feeling weighed down once he felt her warmth. She was so adorable, and she was his.

_**A/N: This one's even shorter, because the next chapter is going to include the next scene, which is connected to the next chapter, if that made any sense at all. xD Review for the next chapter!**_


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